Pairing Books with Movies: A Week in Winter

A Week in Winter 

by Maeve Binchy 

★★★★ 

I needed a cozy winter read and this hit the spot. The story takes place in Stonybridge, a quiet coastal town in Ireland. We dive right in with the story of Chicky, a young woman who is swept off her feet and follows her love to America. Years later she returns to Stonybridge to turn an old home into a hotel. The house belongs to Miss Queenie, an elderly woman whose two spinster sisters have passed away. Chicky’s story starts the book, but each chapter introduces the reader to a new person’s life.

There’s Rigger, a troubled youth who ends up in Stonybridge to escape his mistakes. He leaves behind his mom, Nuala and his uncle Nasey, and a lot of hard feelings. We meet Winnie and watch as she falls in love but struggles to get along with her boyfriend’s difficult mother. There’s a fussy school principal, an American movie star who needs a rest, two English doctors, a young woman with a talent for seeing the future, and a kitten named Gloria. 

Binchy weaves the stories together in such a beautiful way. She layers one character on top of another, each one adding depth to the novel as a whole. Not every person gets a happy ending, but each story is one that I loved living in for a chapter. 

BOTTOM LINE: By the end of the novel I wanted to call Stone House and book a weeklong stay with Chicky and the gang. It’s heartbreaking that this was the last new Binchy novel I will ever read. I hate that there are no more characters for me to discover but I’m so glad her final work was a perfect example of her ability to create a world that feels both familiar and brand new at the same time. 

Pairing Books with Movies: Binchy's novels are wonderful portraits of life in Ireland. This one brought to mind the movie Waking Ned Devine. Both take a look at small town life and both have a cranky character who puts a damper on the lives of those around her. Both also have the death of an elderly person at the beginning that changes things for everyone around them (Ned Devine and then Miss Queenie's sisters).

The Husband’s Secret

The Husband’s Secret

by Liane Moriarty

★★★★★

If Tana French and Maeve Binchy had a baby, this would be it. This beautiful, complicated novel is set in Australia and weaves together three separate plots. The first introduces us to Cecelia, an organized mother of three girls (Polly, Esther and Isabel) who finds an old unopened letter from her husband John-Paul.

The second introduces us to another married couple, Tess and Will. Will has fallen in love with Felicity, who is Tess’ best friend, cousin, and business partner. Tess, left reeling from the shock, flees to her mother’s house in Sydney with her son Liam. Finally, we meet Rachel, grandmother to Jacob. She is frustrated when her son Rob and his career-driven wife Lauren decided to move to New York. Rachel has experienced some extreme tragedies in her life that have left her bitter and resentful.  

I loved that for each of the women we are able to see them through the eyes of other people in addition to hearing them describe themselves. It gives a more complete view than we as the reader are usually able to get. We often either hear what a character thinks of themselves or we see a characters described by others, not both. I loved that combination. It made me think about how I view myself vs. how others see me. We are harsher on ourselves and at the same time we can be cruel to others with our quick first impressions.

The three stories, which on the surface seem so different, are connected by unexpected threads. From the Berlin Wall to the Biggest Loser, the author uses random elements to connect the lives of the women. The whole structure reminded me so much of Maeve Binchy’s style of writing. There’s also a darker side to the story and shades of Tana French’s skilled mysteries kept popping up.  

Another wonderful element is the depth of the secondary characters, especially Felicity and Connor. Both could easily have been one-note creations, easily dismissible. Instead we see their layers, we empathize with them. Their complications make the entire story richer. As much as we sometimes wish it to be true, people are not simply good or evil. Moriarty’s novel embraces that fact and delves deep into the complicated stew of life.

BOTTOM LINE: Such a wonderful novel, I couldn't put it down. It was a equal balance between great characters, excellent pacing and an incredible plot. This one hit the nail ont the head for me.

“It was like being buried in an avalanche of detail. The myriad of tiny logistical maneuvers that made up someone else’s life. It wasn’t that it was dull. Although it was a little dull. It was mainly the sheer quantity of words that flowed so effortlessly from Cecilia’s mouth.”

“Did one act define who you were forever?”

Heart and Soul

Heart and Soul

by Maeve Binchy

★★★★

I’m almost out of Maeve Binchy books to read and that makes me incredibly sad. The Irish author passed away last year after writing 16 novels and a handful of short story collections. After finishing Heart and Soul I now only have one of her books left unread. I’m sure I’ll return to her earlier books again, but I hate that I only have one completely new story left to discover.

Heart and Soul is set in Dublin and tells the story of Clara, who is starting a new heart clinic in the bustling city. Despite a frustrating ex, two bratty daughters and a penny-pinching boss, Clara manages to get the clinic up and running with an excellent staff. She handpicks everyone from the nurses and dietician to the security guard.

In Binchy’s trademark style we wander in and out of various characters lives, watching them fall in love, tackle new challenges and learn more about themselves along the way. This book includes many familiar faces. We reconnect with characters from her other novels, (especially Scarlet Feather, Quentins, Nights of Rain and Stars and Evening Class) and see how they are doing now. You don’t have to read those books to appreciate this one, but it’s a nice surprise to meet those characters again.

I particularly enjoyed Anya’s story. She’s a sweet Polish girl just hoping to find some work in Ireland. Her sincere joy at life despite her ups and down was lovely. A few areas in the story faltered, like a section with a priest and a woman who is avidly pursuing him, but that wasn’t enough to detract for the overall book.  

BOTTOM LINE: If you love Binchy’s work then definitely pick this one up. She is a comfort read for me and I almost always enjoy her.

Image of Dublin from here. 

Top Ten Beach Reads

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for our Top Ten Beach Reads (however YOU define a beach read!) For me a beach read isn’t necessarily fluff, but it is a book that hooks you and keeps you entertained while still providing good characters.

1) The Harry Potter series! I love re-reading these on vacation.

2) The Count of Monte Cristo: Couldn't. Put. It. Down.

3) Paper Towns: Road trips, Florida, it's perfect.

4) The Pillars of the Earth: A big fat epic novel that you can sink in

and enjoy.

5) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Sweet story and the epistolary style makes it an easy read.

6) Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series: You can't help but get caught up in these.

7) The Shadow of the Wind: The perfect mystery novel.

8) Maeve Binchy novels (Tara Road, Circle of Friends): Great characters, great stories.

Categories I don't read on vacation:

9) Nonfiction: I love this genre most of the time, but while traveling I usually avoid it.

10) Shakespeare: I read a few of his plays each year, but definitely not on vacation.

Image from here.

Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for the Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List. These are authors that you love so much you as no questions about their latest book, you just add it to your wishlist. I have lots of classic authors that would fall into this category, but I’m only going to list authors that are still writing books.

1) Maeve Binchy (she passed away this year, but she still has one unreleased book)

2) Jhumpa Lahiri

3) Carlos Ruiz Zafon

4) Jasper Fforde

5) Kate Morton

6) Nick Hornby

7) John Green

8) Tana French

9) Markus Zusak

10) Neil Gaiman

Image form here. 

Mini Reviews: Minding Frankie, Cutting for Stone and The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao

It’s interesting because I had similar problems with all three of these novels. I didn’t hate any of them, but all three felt too disjointed. I loved certain story lines in each book, but the rest left me cold. They feel firmly in the middle for me and I feel like those are always the hardest books for me to review.
 
Minding Frankie
by Maeve Binchy
★★★☆

Noel is struggling to find a bit of meaning in his life. He has a mediocre job, lives with his parents and drinks away his boredom each night. Then he finds out that a one night stand from a few months before resulted in a pregnancy and his impending fatherhood forces him to get his life in order. Noel is surrounded by family and friends who are willing to support him and help, but a social worker named Moira is convinced he can’t be trusted with the child.

This one failed to really hook me. The whole time we’re suppose to hate Moira, which I did, but that doesn’t make for a great story. There were so many different characters and plots that the story kept loosing focus. I liked the American cousin and some of the other supporting characters, but it was too disjointed for my tastes.

BOTTOM LINE: If you’re a die-hard Binchy fan you should read it. If you aren’t but you’d like to check her out, start with Circle of Friends, Evening Class or Tara Road.

Cutting for Stone
by Abraham Verghese
★★★☆

In the most incredible set of circumstances, twins (Marion and Shiva Stone) are born to a nun in an Ethiopian hospital. The story that follows is an intricate look at their lives and the many people around them.

My favorite part of the book was the plot involving Hema, a strong female doctor, and her relationship with fellow doctor Ghosh. They raise the twins together and their relationship defies all stereotypes and clichés.
 
Some of the medical scenes were a bit too graphic for me. They are continuous and sprinkled throughout the book because all of the main characters are doctors, so they’re hard to avoid. The brutal nature of the medical world is one I’m not familiar with and it’s not one I’m drawn to. There are also other elements, female circumcision and a graphic pregnancy scene that made my stomach turn.
 
BOTTOM LINE: I wanted to like it more than I did. Bits of beautiful writing are spliced into a frustratingly bloated story. A few stand out characters helped me connect, but overall I was disappointed.

“Perhaps she should have been grateful to him, happy to be alive, but in the hierarchy of her emotions anger was always trumps.”

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Diaz
★★★☆

This is the story of an over-weight geek with a penchant for falling in love a little too easily. From his childhood in the Dominican Republic to his later years in New Jersey, Oscar never really finds the happiness he longs for.

The story is told from Oscar’s college roommate Yunior’s point of view, which is a strange choice. It bounces around dealing with the rough relationship between Oscar’s sister Lola and their harsh mother, the mother’s troubled past, Oscar’s emotional issues and Yunior’s romantic relationship with Lola.

It was interesting to read this shortly after reading In the Time of the Butterflies earlier this year, because books discuss Trujillo’s reign in the Dominican Republic. Also I’m an absolute geek at heart, so I loved all the nerdy references to Tolkein, etc., but it wasn’t enough to really hook me.
 
BOTTOM LINE: There were aspects of the novel that I enjoyed more than others, but I was never as invested as I wanted to be. In the end it just wasn’t enough. There were too many different threads and it never came together in a satisfying way.

Mini Reviews: Pairing Books with Movies 4


The Kalahari Typing School for Men

by Alexander McCall Smith 

★★★☆



This is the fourth book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I read the first three in 2005 and enjoyed them, but haven’t felt the need to pick up another. I came across this one at a library book sale and thought, why not? 



Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Makutsi are still running the detective agency. Mma Makutsi is trying to find a way to supplement her income and Mma Ramotswe is still adjusting to life with two new foster children. 



The book moves slowly, unlike most mystery novels. They are more about life in Botswana, which moves at a leisurely pace, then about solving a huge case. Sometimes I enjoy this, but other times I just want something to happen. The books include interesting characters, but I feel like you never really learn much more about them as the series progresses. 



As with the other books, I enjoyed this one alright, but I don’t feel I need to read the next book. If you love these books, then this one will be no exception. But if, like me, you just aren’t swept away then this one is not really worth picking up. 



“She knew that she would have to be extremely careful, this clerk wasn’t bright and people like that could show a remarkable tenacity when it came to rules.”

Pair with a viewing of Roar!: Lions of the Kalahari (40 min. documentary from National Geographic) and Veronica Mars (A TV show with another great female detective)


This Year It Will Be Different

by Maeve Binchy 

★★★★ 



I’m such a sucker for Binchy’s books. I tend to like her novels more than her short story collections, but this one was perfect for December. There are 15 stories, all with some Christmas theme. That being said, they aren’t sweet cheerful stories, that’s not really her style. There’s the tension of a blended family, a broken heart, a newly married son, an unexpected trip to New York, and so much more. Each one gives us a quick glimpse into the lives of someone new. 



The way the Binchy writes is just perfect for this medium. You don’t need 300 pages to get to know the characters. In the matter of a few paragraphs she’s given you the flavor of their lives and that’s all you need. I will always return to her books as comfort reads. 



“It was so easy to be wise about other people's business.” 


Pair with a few of Binchy’s other novels that have been made into films: Circle of Friends and Tara Road